There is an established industry in providing batteries for powering electrical devices used for a multitude of applications, particularly batteries which are intended to be replaced during the use of the device. One such application is in the field of professional video cameras, where the video crew would typically travel with a plurality of batteries for powering the cameras for significant periods of time, particularly where mains power supplies might not be available. There are many other similar applications, including also for powering electric vehicles and other large devices.
In many such applications, the batteries may be handled roughly and it is therefore important that they are constructed to withstand such treatment.
There is also a growing need to provide higher capacity batteries in order to power devices which are more power hungry. Examples include High and Very High Definition cameras, vehicles and so on. However, high capacity batteries can be dangerous as a result of the potential current which they can produce. particularly as a result of device malfunction or damage to the battery. As a result of this, airlines for instance limit the capacity of batteries which can be carried on board to no more than 100 Watt-hours (Wh). While this may be a reasonable maximum capacity for travel safety purposes, batteries of such capacity are insufficient for powering some modern electronic devices, such as high powered cameras. As a result, it is known to couple together two sub-100 Wh batteries together.
It is common in many applications to use batteries which are not unique to a particular device or make of device. As a result, such batteries typically need to be designed to fit the device which they are to power. This can mean providing the same battery in a plurality of different fittings. Although many professional video cameras use a V-mount coupling, common on cameras provided by Sony Corporation, the locking mechanism is not necessarily the same for different cameras. While it is feasible to provide batteries with different fittings, if it is also desired to be able to couple a plurality of batteries to one another, as taught herein, the coupling arrangement can become complex.